For the past 18 years, Todd Norman was Marblehead High head coach Johnny Gold’s righthand man on the softball diamond. Norman, who took care of the third base coaching duties on offense for Gold, while also calling the pitches for his pitching staff, was more of a friend to him than anything else throughout the past two decades. When news broke of his sudden passing early Monday, April 8, at the age of 61, it naturally shook Gold, as well as the entire Marblehead High sports community.
“(Todd) was not just a coach, he was also a close friend,” Gold told the Current just minutes after the emotional win over Reading on Monday afternoon. “He was somebody who always cared about the kids of Marblehead. He’d teach them life lessons, and give them the shirt off his back.”
Norman was at practice the Friday before Monday’s Reading opener to help Gold prepare the team for the game. He probably repeated his favorite expression to the players that day to get them ready for the usual ups and downs of a season. He’d simply say, “Excuses are the foundation for the house of failure.”
“There wasn’t a year that went by that those words were heard and memorized by the entire team,” said Gold.
Norman was perhaps the most unheralded coach throughout the Marblehead athletic department. He was also a member of coach Jim Rudloff’s football staff at one time.
“Todd was a varsity assistant coach for us from 2010-2016,” Rudloff said. “At some point, I think we all have been on a softball, flag football or bags (a slang expression for a cornhole fundraiser he ran annually) team with Todd. He was a good friend to me, as well as all the other coaches he worked with. He was very giving to his friends, and would have your back no matter what the situation. The kids who played for him loved him, and he will be missed very much. He was and will always be a part of Marblehead’s fabric.”
MHS athletic director Greg Ceglarski offered these thoughts on behalf of the entire sports program. “It was a very sad Monday in Marblehead athletics. Todd was the definition of what you want a coach to be — extremely knowledgeable, always willing to lend a hand, passionate, dedicated, just to name a few of his outstanding qualities,” he said. “Above all of that, and probably most important, Todd was loved by the student-athletes, coaching staffs and colleagues he worked with each season.
“I worked with him for seven softball seasons as the school’s athletic director, but he was also involved with other programs before I started here,” Ceglarski added. “Everyone who I have spoken with says it was an absolute pleasure to have him on staff. Todd was also heavily involved with youth sports, which set the tone for athletes before they go to the high school. He was a rock to those programs, and will be sorely missed for many years to come.”
Todd has two children — Samantha, a MHS Sports Hall of Famer, and Joshua, who is a Marblehead firefighter.
Samantha, who graduated in 2009, is remembered by Gold as “the most prolific hitter that I’;ve ever coached.” She was a three-year varsity starter and a two-time NEC all-star. She batted .550 in her senior campaign, and had a .433 career average, both school records. In her three seasons with the Magicians, she only struck out six times. She went on to play softball at the University of New Hampshire, and is currently the assistant athletic director and main office administrative assistant at Bishop Fenwick after spending seven years as Salem High’s athletic trainer.
